Method and apparatus for forming helical lock seam pipe



May 5, 1942. y E. FAY ETAL 2,282,176

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR F'ORMING HLICAL LOCK SEAM PIPE Filed May 2,19:59 5 sheetsf-sneet 1` May 5, 1942. E. FAY ETAL 2,282,176

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING HELICAL LOCK SEAM PIPE Filed May 2,1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNEYJ.

E. FAY- ETAL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING HELICAL LQCK SEAM lPIPE vMay 5, 1942.

Filed May v2, 1939 5V sheets-sheet` 3 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMINGrELIAL Loox s EAM PIPE E Filed May 2, i939 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 v y /0155.0: '/f m, l 6" May 5,'1942. EFM im.. 2,282,176

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING HELICAL LOCK SEAM PIPE Filed May 2,1939 5 sheets-sheet 5 ,may fucqms 'ZY BB Efffncf MALswafr-H attorneys.

inventors.

Patented i May` 19242 s PATENT OFFICE 2,282,116 muon AND APPARATUS FoaFoam HELICAL LOCK SEAM PIPE Eugene Fay and Terrence W. Allsworth,Middleassignors to The American Bolling Mill Company, Middletown, Ohio,a corporation of Ohio Application May 2, 1939, Serial No. 271,308

13 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of pipe which is known ashelical lock seam pipe, and to a method of forming such pipe as well asto a machine for carrying out the method.

Numerous methods have been disclosed in the art for manufacturing pipefrom strip by helically winding the strip and in some manner connectingcontiguous edges to form some sort of a helical seam.l Our inventionrelates more particularly to pipe in which the seam is formed byinterengaging elements which are tightly clamped together. The pipe maybe either smooth walled or by longitudinally corrugating the strip, thepipe may be given helical corrugations. Generally speaking,' galvanizediron isl used in the manufacture of such pipe. l

In the case oi light gauge culverts and the like, the metal is generallygalvanized in strip form before it is manufactured into pipe; while inthe case of heavier gauges, the galvanizing is often done aftermanufacturing. In the case of stock galvanized before forming, it i'simpossible to weld such edgestogether without burning off thegalvanizing coating, and hence the so-called lock seaming method ispreferred. Generally a lock seam is produced by bending a U shaped beadalong onev edge of the strip and an L shaped flange along the other, andas the material is curved into the helix the L 'shaped flange is guidedinto the U shaped bead and securely locked in place by means of rollers.

v Numerous Ways have been disclosed in the art for forming both flatstock and corrugated strip into the helix but most of these priordisclosures presuppose a strip of constant hardness and substantiallywithout camber, and such strip is not commercially available. 'Ihe bestof commercial strip varies considerably in gauge and temper, and isalways more or less cambered. Some attempts have been' made to take careof irregularities in the strip, as .for example Patents 2,136,942 and2,136,943 in the name of Jonathan Roy Freeze.

Our invention relates to themanufacture of strip into pipe in a mannerwhich is entirely different from anything which is known at the presenttime.

It is an object of our invention to provide a method of forming eitherflat or corrugated helical lock seam pipe in a simple and expeditiousmanner, whereby the pipe will have perfect seams.

It is another object of our a machine which will accomplish the methodand which will be capable of operating on strip of different Widths,yand which will be capable of- (cl. 11a-35) 1 producing pipe of differentdiameters.' Furthermore, it is an lobject of our invention to provide amachine which will make tapered pipe. There is currently a considerabledemand fo Va light gauge and yet rigid and strong pipe carrying capacityis increased considerably. Itl

is therefore a further object of our invention to provide a machine anda method for manufacturing light gauge rigid tapered pipe which will besuitable for use as pile shells.

. Generally our objectsinclude the provision of a machine which will'-be extremely simple and much cheaper to manufacture than any machine nowavailable, which will, have less moving parts and which will be capableof turning out'uniformly excellent pipe in either smooth walled vorcorrugated form, and either of constantdiameter or with a slight taper.

These and other objects of our invention which will be described more indetail hereinafter, we accomplish -by that lseries of method steps andby that construction and arrangement of parts,

of which we shall now describe exemplary embodiments.

Reference is now made to the drawings form ing a part hereof, and inwhich: o

Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine according to our invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view similar to Fig. 1, showing the arrangementfor the manufacture of tapered pipe. l

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the machine as seen from the drive side.

Fig..4 is a perspective view of a section of finished pipe. l

Hg. 5 is an elevational View of the seaming rolls. Y

Fig. 6 is apartial cross-sectional view showing a pair of flangeformingrolls as used in the manufacture of light gauge pipe.

invention to provide showing corrugating rollers such as are used in themanufacture of heavier gauge pipe.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a flat strip Fig. '7 is a partialplan view similar to Fig. l,

laU-shailvedbead. p Fig. 1l is a cross-sectional View of the seam .e

after it leaves the seam element forming rolls used in the manufactureof' lightv gauge pipe.-

one of the seam elements is turned over to form which is formed.

f apparatus being omitted to forming lof the seam.

This is the preferable way of carrying out our used. With heavier gaugesthis procedure would put too much of a strain on the apparatus, and

fit may'therefore be desirable to introducethe n l the operationscarried outupon B rieiiy,.in the practice of ourinvention we provideVmeans fo'r feeding strip and forming along the edges' thereof seamelements. The corru- 3 gations which are to; be provided in the nished ipipe'may be formed in the strip incident to the" 1 process ofhelicallyforming the strip into pipe.

maarre` f by the gear train 3a, as above described, carries Fig. 1,0 isa view similar to'Fig. 9 showing how L Fig. l2 `is a perspective'view-showing a corru` gated strip being formed into pipe, all formingbetter illustrate the' a hardened vbeveled disk I0, which is arranged topush one edge oi' the strip downwardly into a.

f recess provided on the mating roll ofthe pair. yA spacing unit Ilwhich is tapered at its end, provides a recess I2a, into which the otheredge ofthe strip is upwardly pushed by the corresponding disk .I Ii, ofthe mating roller, to form the other seam element. 'In order toprovidefor the use of strip of various widths, we provide a seriesv i ofwashers or spacers I4 (Fig. 6), adjacent the tapered end of the spacerII,` the. whole unit being held in assembly by means of a nut engaging-a thread on a shaft I2. It will be clear that if a wider strip istoI be used, one'or more of the washers or spacers Il'may be removedfrom theposition shown, and inserted between the/ beveled disk I0 andthe opposite end of the processv when Yrelativelylight gauge strip isbeing i corrugations into theY stripkv gradually before it j arrives atthe forming assembly. The funda- L mental principles of pipe manufactureare the same inboth cases, except that'in'the caseA of 3 l'and 5) formthe corrugations and perform the i seaming operation, while in the caseof heavier gauge 'strip the rollers I1 and Il merely size the gpreviously formed corrugations and perform the ments along the edges ofthe strip are formed it enters` the formingassembly. y

' Referring more particularly to'Figs. 1 and 3, i strip from a coil l isled through a pair of rolls g2, 2', which .are-journaled. at theirends.. the roll l- `2' being driven through the gear train 3a, and

gear reducer I bythe motor i. After the strip leaves the rolls 2, 2', itpasses between upper and lower guides 6, 6', and between another pair ofrolls l, 3', which are mounted and driven in a then passes through upperand lower guides 1 which are mounted and driven in a manner similar tothe rolls 2.1' and 3, 3', and thence the strip passes through upper andlower guides, 9'v to the forming unit, which will be described in moredetail hereinafter'.y

It win be understood that the net toners 2, z', 3, 3' and 8, Q are theones which .we prefer to strip, and that these rollers have only thefuncltion of producing the seam elements along'the edges ofthe strip.Where heavier gauge; stock is being used we substitute rolls such as areshown lat 50, 5I and. in Fig. '7, and as there shown the v rolls notonly produce ythe seam elements along on the forming assembly. 'I'he theedges of the strip but also produce thelongitudinal corrugations so as'to lessen the strain forming of the seam elements must begin far enoughback in order that the deformation or change in shape of the strip canbe brought about in progressive steps,`in order to avoid stretching, afdwe have found it desirable to provide. for atleast two seamy elementforming steps before the stripv reaches thepipe -forming assembly.-Referring. now more particularly yto Fig. 6,V a

shaft l2 which is journaled at its end s and driven g light gauge`material the rollers I1 and I1' (Figs. i

spacing unitv Il, andit will, of course be understood that asimilarychange is made on the mating roll ofthe pair. 'f .e v

Upon leaving the rolls, 8,- 8', the strip has the .cross sectionall formshown in Fig. 9, `arid has the edges formed asindicated at I9. 'In orderto f corrugate a seam in the same pass as we prefer to do in the case'oflight gauges, and even for the` purpose of seaming previously corrugatedstrip as` in the case of heavier gauges, it is essential that one edgeof the strip shown in Fig. 9 be definitely inclined to a U shape, or inother words, thrust toward the main body. of ,the strip. .This

is necessary since it predetermines the' direction-y of closing of theseam when lpressure is applied thereto, and the seam is thus made to.incline and close instead of opening up.` For this purpose we providetheV guides I3 and I5, lof which thev guide I5 is simply a straight sideguide and the @manner similar to the rolls y2, 2'. The material l and1', and through another set of rolls 8 and 8', -7

1 of different widths (bearing in mind that thef` strips when theyreachthe corrugated rollers, are

already provided with' seam flange I9 of the strip.y use in themanufacture ofpipe from light gauge y 1 .6(1) entering the slot iB a.

guide I3 is a hardened strip which is arranged to progressively bend theadjacent flange inwardly so as to form a U shape bead. as indicated at20 in Fig. "10. t

Thus fan this description` has related vto the preparatory forming ofthe strip, and wewill now y describe the forming assembly and theprocedures f carried out upon the strip at that point and subsequentthereto. Also driven from the drive 31a,.

is a pair of seaming' rollers which are corrugated,v and which in thecase of lightgauge material` serve to c orrugate the stock, andwhich inthe' case of heavier gauges merely serveto size the corrugations. Inorder to accommodate strips elements) we provide a number oi'slots I6,

Referring to Fig.l5,' for example, 'a narrower strip .would enter thecorrugating rolls as there a, wider strip would enter the raus with itsaange The rolls I1, I1 also perform the seaming operation, yand to thisend they gagedseam elements -z rollers I1' and I1', the, rollers provideare'provided .with the recesses vvsh'iixwn at-2I. It

will be lclear referring to Fig. *12, thatas vthe strip is bent up overthe roll I1, thejilange I'Q-will arrive in a position to enterthe'Yb'ead-ZU, and as the enpassv through betweenl the therecessedportions il'y of necessary' 'clearance space yet serve tocompress andset the seam.

In order to insure that the flange properly enl gages in the bead, weprovide a hold-in roller 22, shown in phantom lines in Fig. 12, and alsol observable in Figs. l and 2. This roller is mounted on a bracket 22a,which is conveniently attached to` accommodate the in the angle atwhiclrthe nished pipe is'being delivered. t

3. A method of manufacturing tapered helical lock seam pipe whichincludes the steps of -forming similarlyfjshaped oppositely disposedseam elements along the edges of a strip of metal., concurrently and rprogressively corrugating said strip, passing said strip between a pair"of corrugated seaming rollers vand bending the strip beyond saidrollers helically to cause the leading end of said strip to pass aroundone oi saidrollers, continuously guiding said seam elements intointerengagement. and passing said engaged seam elements again betweensaid' rollers to compress the same, and producing a taper in the pipe bygradually enforcing a change in the angle at which the iinished pipe isbeing delivered.

4. That process of continuously fabricating lengths of tapered helicallock seam pipe, which includes the steps of forming seam elements alongthe edges of a strip of metal, helically winding said strip into pipeform with said seam elements in ilterengagement, compressing said seam,and tapering said pipe by gradually enforcing a change in the angle ofdelivery of theV nishedpipe in one direction for a predetermined periodof time, cutting off a length of formed pipe, and then progressivelyenforcing a change in thei angle of delivery of the finished pipe vinthe opposite direction for an equal length of time and again cutting offa length of pipe, whereby therefare produced a series of lengths of pipehaving equal small end and large end diameters and equal in length whichare delivered in reversed positions 'fonconvenience in piling. t

5. Apparatus for the manufacture of corrugated helical lock seam pipecomprising a plurality of 'pairs of rollers -arranged to impart to lastrip passing therethrough similar but oppositely disposed seam elementsalong the edges thereof, a pair of corrugated rolls arranged tocorrugate the? strip as it passes therethrough,4

Aprogressively to form along the edges thereof similarly shapedoppositely disposed seam elements, a'pair of corrugated seaming rollsthrough which the strip is arrangedto pass, means cooperating with saidseaming rolls for helically curving said strip, whereby it will passaround one of said seaming rolls, means for guiding said seam elementsinto interengagement whereby said seam will be compressed as it passesagain through said seaming rollers.

t 7. Apparatus for the manufacture of corru,

gated helical lock seam pipe comprising a plurality of pairs ofrollersarranged .to impart to a strip passing therethrough, similarbutoppositely disposed seam elements along the edges thereof, a pair ofcorrugated rolls arranged to corrugate the strip as it passestherethrough, a cylindrical passes about one of said'corrugating rolls,and

, means on said corrugating rolls for tightly compressing said seam. f

8. Apparatus for theA manufacture of corrugated helical lockseam pipe,comprising a plurality of pairs of rolls arranged to progressivelycorrugate astrip of metal, andconcurrently,

progressively to' form along the edges thereof similarly shaped.oppositely disposed seam ele ments, a pair of corrugated seaming rollsthrough which the strip is arranged to pass, a` cylindrical forming rollangularly disposed with respect'to the corrugating rolls beyond the exitthereof and position to impart to the strip a' helical curvature,whereby it will pass around v roller disposed adjacent the exit of saidcorrugating and seaming rollers, the position of said curving 'roller asregards its distance from the Aseaming rollers and also as to its`angular relation to said seaming rollers being adjustable,

' and supporting means for the formed pipe, said supporting meanscarrying said adjustable curving roller, said entire supporting meansbeing mounted for oscillation about a point'substantiaily at theintersection of the axes of said seaming l rollers and of the-formedpipe.

10. In a machine for vmanufacturing' corrugated helical lock seam pipefrom a strip offsheet metal,'a pair of corrugated rolls through whichthe strip isadapted to pass, means for curving said strip helically tocause it to pass around oney of said rolls, means on said rolls forcausing said seam elements to interengage, and means for supporting the'formed pipe, said curving means, seam engagement ensuring means andformed pipe supporting means being mounted forl oscillation as a unitabout a point coinciding substantially with the intersection of the axesof said rollers 'and said formed pipe.

11; In a machine for manufacturing corrugated helical lock seam pipefrom a strip of sheet.

metal, a, pairof corrugated rolls through which the strip is adapted topass,-means for curving said strip helically to cause it to pass aroundone of said rolls, means on said rolls for causing said seam elements-to interengage, and means for supporting the formed pipe, said curvingmeans,

' seam engagement ensuring means and formed pipe supporting means beingmounted for oscillation as a unit about a point coinciding subformingroll angularly disposed with respect to,4

stantially with the intersection of the axes of 'said rollers andv saidformed pipe, said curving Ameans being mounted for adjustment as to itsangular position and as to its distance from said pair of rolls.v

.12. In a machine for manufacturing corrugated helical lock seam pipefrom a strip of sheet metal, a pair of corrugated rolls through which.the Stripisadapted ,to pass, means forcurving said strip helically tocause it to pass aroundone of said rollers, means for causing said seamelements to interengage, and means for supporting the formed pipe, saidcurving means, seam engagement ensuring means and formed pipe supportingmeans being mounted for oscillation as.

a unit about a pointcoinciding substantially with theintersection of theaxes of said rollers and fin a 'to the forminga'ssembly frame 30. vThisroller holds the iL-shaped flange on one side of the strip rmly in placeagainst the bead onl the pipe. If this roller bears irmly against thestrip 1 as shown, commercially uniform size pipe results. Just beyondthe rolls I1, I1', is mounted a pivoted about a point 28 and an arcuateslot 24 v 1 and a bolt 25 are provided wherebythe assembly' i may bebolted in any desired angular position in strip continues to behelically wound, and through the cooperation of the roller 22, the seamele- .Inents will be interengaged as yheretofore de-A scribed. r y f xIt is. also necessary that the location ofthe roller I8 be adjustable asto its in and out pcsition with respect to the rolls I1, I1. Forthispurpose the kmember 53a is carried upon the memberV 21 which as. shownin Figure 8, is mounted in ways 55a upon the member 55. A Q block 25a iswelded to the member 55, and has a threaded'hole through which passes abolt 26, i having a portion of reduced diameter 26a, which is engaged ina fork 56,integral with the member other, as the'helically curved stripis formed into' fr l forming roller I8. This forming roller is mounted i,l on'a bracket or holder 53, which bracket is'xed liuto a plate 53a.The plate 53a is arranged to be of the fact that the' rouer 2z 1s alsomounted on the plate 30. Thus if at the start of the operation the seamelements I9 and 28 are fully engaged movement is impartedto -the link 3lto increase 4the helical angle whereby a small amount of metalis takenaway from the seam and the pipe diameter gradually increases-. We

have found that tapersQp/the order of 2 inches in 10 feet can thus beaccomplished without and tapers 'such as we have juset mentioned areadequate for use in pile shells,

It will be clear that by reversal of movement,"

of the link 3I, a taper will beimp'arted to the pipe in the oppositedirection, and' it will thus be seen that successive pieces of pipeformed will have increasing and then decreasing tapers, and

the small end and'large end "diameters of suct y I cessive pieces willbe the same, but at opposite the lengths of pipe as formed are alreadyreversed for'piling or stacking.

' 21. It Will be clear that by rotating the bolt 26A [in onedirection,the assembly is moved inwardly,

the assembly is moved outwardly.

The plate 30 which is integral with member 55, therefore,'carries, ashas been described, both the rollers I8 and22. As has been described,the roller 22 is mounted on the plate 130, and the i roller I8 Yalsomounted thereon is adjustable both Vas to its in and out position, andas to its angular @position with respect to the plate 30. 1 j ForanyVgiven sized pipe, the roller 22 has a xed positionr if the pipe isalways-made from l the'same width strip. YShould a wider strip be gused., th'e helix angle would of course be greater and roll 2,2'wouldhave to be slightly adjustable direction along the axis of the mainvrolls I1.

Should a larger' diameter pipe be made from `to bear against the strip.vThis adjustment is not necessary unless variations in diameter '.are sogreat that the roll does 'not'bear against the strip.

60. At a position removed from the forming area, the plate 30 preferablycarries rollers 54 rotatably mounted in brackets 29. The brackets 29 arepreferably lrotatablelwith respect to the plate 38, in any desiredmanner. The rollers 54 which must be adjustable to. take care ofdifferent diameter pipe, serve tohold the pipe in a fixed position withrelation to the plate 38.

In order to make tapered pipe, vit is necessary to lcontinuously changethe helical angle, and this we accomplish by means of a link 3l, whichmay `be connected to any desired cam or eccentric. i As movement isimparted to .the arm 3| to change the direction of movement of theformed pipe, the eiect is to change the degree'of engagement `of theseam elements. This is possible in view The member 55 and lplate 30,carried therewith 1 are arranged for pivotal 'movement about a point andby turning the .bolt in the other, direction It will -be noted that thelocation at which the right hand edge of the strip (in the direction ofchanges, and if the'strip is wider or narrower it -will b'e thelocation, of the lefthand edge of the strip that will change.Therefore', the roller 22 will need but little adjustment since theactual seam forming operation will "always be carried on at the samepoint and the roller 22'is near that point. It will alsocbe noted thatthe form of the recesses 2| in the rolls I1, I1', is such that the seamin cross section has the appearance shown in Fig. L11, in which theoffsets 23 and 23 are provided so that the seam cannot becomedisengaged. LIt will be clear that this seam is -'an extremely solidandfast seam.

It will be understood that, various modifications may be made withoutdeparting yfrom the \spirit of our invention, and that therefore we dothe same strip, roll 22 must be moved out in order notl intend to limitourselves in any manner other than as pointed out in the claims whichfollow.v

Having thus described our invention,'what we claim as new ,and desire tosecureby Letters Patent, is:

1. A method of' manufacturing tapered helical lock seam pipe, whichincludes the steps of forming'along the edges of a,v strip of metalopypositely 4disposed similarly shaped seam elements,

slightly inclining "one of `said seam elements, l

passing the strip between a pair of seamingroll'- ers, bending saidstrip beyond said seaming rollof said strip around one of said pair ofseaming rollers, Acontinuously guiding said seam elementsv intointerengag'ment and compressing said seam, and producing a taper in thepipe by gradually enforcing a change in the angle at which the nishedpipeis being delivered.

- 2. A method of manufacturing tapered hell-1 cal lock seam pipe,whichinclud'es the steps of forming along the edges of Aa strip of metalsimi? larly shaped oppositely disposed seam elements,

deforming one of `said seam elements, passing said strip through a pairof corrugating rolls to ,said' seam elementsv into interengagemenhthecorrugate the same, bending the strip beyond saidcorrugating rolls in?.helical direction to cause the leading end of .said strip to pass aroundone of said corrugating rolls, continuously guiding the deleteriouslyaffecting the quality ofthe seam. n

ends `of the pipe. This is advantageous in that l strip movement) entersthey forming rolls never' ers into a-helical form to bring the leadingedge .l

mesme c p said formed pipe. means for rocking said entire assemblyslowly rst in one direction and then in the other whereby to producetapered pipe.

13., A method of manufacturing tapered helical ylock seam pipe whichincludes the steps of formingalong the edges o 'a strip of metal;oppositely disposed similarly shaped seam elements, passing the stripbetween a pair of seeming rollers, bending the said strip beyond saidseeming rollers into helical form by an singularly related bending meansto bring the leading edge of said strip around one of said vpair ofseaniing 'rollers. continuously guiding said seam elements intointerengagement and compressing said seam on said rollers, and producinga taper in the pipe by, gradually enforcing a change in the angle atwhich the nished pipe is delivered, while concurrently varyi'ng theangle, but not the average distance, of said bending means from saidseaming rollers; 4

EUGENE FAY.

TERRENCE W. ALLSWORTH.

